Tired of the constant invocations of the marriage of Charles and Diana as their son and heir takes the plunge tomorrow? Read on anyway. A colleague asked me recently if I knew of the music planned for the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Here's the program. So many of you weren't born when Charles and Diana walked down the aisle at St Paul's and into unhappiness. Let me tell you, it was a great day, complete with getting up at 4 a.m. in a roach-infested NYC apartment to turn on the 12-inch black-and-white. No cable in those days. And here's what we saw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQTe47cR-Ws As for the music, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa never lived down her Popsicle inspired schmatte (that's Yiddish for rags) as she let out Let the bright Seraphim from George Frideric Handel's Samson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce1A8QLF4ks In this 1947 clip of the Royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, we hear little music but a lot of cheers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG7pzFdzuyk In 1986, Arleen Auger sung the Alleluia from Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate at the royal wedding of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUYZ_31RDZU
Christopher Purdy is Classical 101's early morning host, 7-10 a.m. weekdays. He is host and producer of Front Row Center – Classical 101’s weekly celebration of Opera and more – as well as Music in Mid-Ohio, Concerts at Ohio State, and the Columbus Symphony broadcast series. He is the regular pre-concert speaker for Columbus Symphony performances in the Ohio Theater.